Jeremiah’s Life Threatened

¹⁸ Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings.

¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”

And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah ^[a]deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

⁹ And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

⁶ Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(A)abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” ⁷ So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.

⁹ And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw, and there—every ^(B)sort of ^(C)creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, ^[a]portrayed all around on the walls. ¹¹ And there stood before them ^(D)seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. ¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ^(E)‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”

¹³ And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” ¹⁴ So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for ^[b]Tammuz.

¹⁵ Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” ¹⁶ So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, ^(F)between the porch and the altar, ^(G)were about twenty-five men ^(H)with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping ^(I)the sun toward the east.

¹⁷ And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have ^(J)filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. ^18 (K)Therefore I also will act in fury. My ^(L)eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they ^(M)cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

¹⁹ But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, ^(A)and let us cut him off from ^(B)the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

¹⁴ Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶ So he answered, ^(A)“Do not fear, for ^(B)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord ^(C)opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of ^(D)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And ^(E)He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹ Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”